a pee wee football game turns ugly. kids and parents shrugging it out on the field. >> reporter: i'm sherrie johnson with a look at the wet roads and traffic for the morning commute. wild weather on our doorstep. it's going to get worse. good morning maryland, i'm jamie costello. >> i'm megan pringle. really the weather is the big story today. looks like we better brace ourselves, it'll be here a while. >> here's justin berk. >> let's run down the details here. it's you know, seven months ago, we had ourselves blizzards to deal with, now we have the remains of a tropical storm that will stay with us for the entirity of today and perhaps into the early part of tomorrow. we're looking at a wind advisory, the remains of nicole which are no longer an official

tropical storm. it's broken up into a few pieces. every piece is thrown at central maryland. wind advisory with gusts of 45 miles an hour today. there could be a possibility of tornados with a watch extended to 1:00 p.m. for most of central maryland off towards the eastern shore and our states to the north and into the carolinas. rainfall could top 2 to 5 inches. flooding, almost a guarantee across the area. we have heavy rain right now around the beltway. severna park, annapolis, the orange and red shadings. there's more coming up the bay. rain over the central and southern portion of the chesapeake. here we go, 68 this morning. 75 this afternoon, it's about the building rain, big puddles on the roads, going to cause traffic problems out there. please be careful, we cannot extend this issue enough. do not drive if it looks like a puddle, it could be much deeper than it might be. be very cautious out there.

we have accidents to prove it already. here's kim brown with the latest on the roads. >> the ironic thing, we're having more accidents on the major highways including the beltway and i-70 corridor. more so than on the side streets. i anticipate that's going to change as the morning goes along. let's look at this crash on the right shoulder and one of the center lanes. police haven't quite arrived on the scene. so it's kind of a dangerous situation as drivers are trying to get around this accident. keep your speeds down. definitely take it easy. another accident on the outer loop, very top side, exit ramp towards the jfx. that blocks a lane. this is a serious accident we've been dealing with since the birth. 70 eastbound, all lanes blocked between the patapsco river bridge. closed because of an overturned tractor-trailer. state police say they may have that reopened between 6:30 and 8:00 a.m.

all traffic is being detoured onto southbound route 29. this one's going to splash us right in the face. >> you can see steady and heavy rain from florida, all the way up. emily schmitt is here with a mess on this thursday. >> it's hard to know looking at all of the rain falling all along the east coast. if people are testing the water. >> it's the first tropical storm i've been in, it's kind of cool. >> reporter: or if the water is testing them. north carolina's governor declared a state of emergency after wilmington had at least 18 inches of rain since sunday. four months worth of water in 100 hours. one inch more will top a record set by hurricane floyd a decade ago. for landscape businesses it's disappointing. >> four days of sitting in the house doing nothing. >> reporter: for others, it's disorienting. >> normally i was swinging around to go through this box

here, to deliver, and i misjudged the pavement, you know. >> reporter: clarence williams drives this afternoon postal route all the time, but standing water hid where he thought the road would be. >> i think it's good if you're a duck. >> reporter: in florida portable pumps have been working for days. emergency workers in south carolina are ready for long hours too. >> there's always somebody or someone who doesn't pay attention to what they're doing. the car stalls out. next thing you know, you have a water rescue on your hands. >> we had the water level come right up to the door. we had six inches a few days ago. >> reporter: flood watches and warnings extend as far north as new england. the remnants promising to test more people before it finally passes through. emily schmitt abc news. 5:36. closing arguments are expected today in the ken harris murder

trial. jerome williams, charles mcganey, gary collins all accused of killing the city councilman. she was shot to death in northeast baltimore. andy mccann's parents are expected to talk about new developments in their daughter's death. her body was found in november of 2008. federal authorities will be launching an investigation into a deadly tourist bus crash that happened in baltimore county yesterday. the driver was killed and a dozen more injured when the bus plunged onto interstate 270 near bethesda. happened during rush hour yesterday. >> everybody was saying "get the kids out." >> i was holding everybody. they all were crying and

bleeding. >> witnesses say the driver appeared to have a medical emergency and slumped over in his seat, leading the bus to swerve over the recalling. state police say the bus fell more than 40 feet over a ramp onto the washington beltway. disturbing story out of new jersey. >> a college freshmen apparently takes his own life. could a sex tape from a hidden webcam have led to his suicide? dramatic video of a touchdown showing the scary sight drivers had to face. >> here's the mta's mark jones. how are we going to make it? >> weather is affecting the commute this morning. you'll want to allow extra time for getting there if you travel by bus, due to the slippery roadways and rain. number 10 and number 30 buses taking a diversion at pratt and light this morning. 55 diverted at lillian holt and rossville boulevard. 841 running 10 minutes late. other lines look good for travel.

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four years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholes for giant cable cable companies. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the last four years, he worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even a bank that took billions from a taxpayer funded bailout. ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks and billionares don't need help.

middle class marylanders do. take a look at this: this is dramatic video just released of a tornado touchdown in

columbus, ohio. dust and debris was kicked up at last wednesday's tornado. cars were driving right through the storm. storm packed winds of 65 miles an hour. no significant damage, though, was reported. that's amazing stuff. wait until you hear what our traffic cameras caught on the beltway. kim brown will talk about that. in terms of tornados, any potential tropical storm remnant that makes landfall has the potential itself to produce tornados. we have a tornado watch in central maryland, basically all the counties within our signal. harford, baltimore, carol, howard, anne arundel, up towards cecil, eastern shore, through delaware, anything could spin up as we have a lot of instability, a lot of spin in the atmosphere. look at the deep red shading down the throat of the

chesapeake bay. anybody crossing the bay bridge isn't having an easy time. look at edgemere, already over two inches of rainfall since midnight. some spots may see five inches or more today. flood ing a big problem in addition to wind and weather. >> we're keeping an eye on the incident on the beltway. couple crashes reported. wilkins avenue, an accident, appearing to involve two vehicles blocking the two right lanes and both shoulders. police have arrived on the scene, so it's going to cause significant delays as you make your way towards the southwest corner, approaching i-95. this is again, the outer loop at wilkins. as we look at our maps, dealing with several incidents around the area. including a road closure, i-70 eastbound closed at the patapsco river bridge. hopefully it'll reopen within the next hour, possibly two or three hours or so. all traffic is being diverted

onto route 29. accident remains on the top side of the outer loop. one lane is blocked there. a crash reported, 83 southbound at belfast. middle river, eastern boulevard and martin boulevard. don't drive through high water, you don't know how deep or dangerous it could be. linda sow is standing by, she has updates on one of this morning's top stories. >> it'll be one of those days. we're in for a lot of rain. why all this rain could leave you in the dark and shut off the lights in your house. well, max, first day... moh-ohm. -do you have your lunch? -yes. and you know where your classroom is? uh huh. mom, i can walk from here. what about your... mom, i got it. ♪

[ female announcer ] they're never too big for a little something sweet. kellogg's rice krispies treats. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message. the real andy harris. buried in his website - a promise to replace the tax code with a 23% sales tax and eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. a bush tax panel said families would pay $6,000 more a year. a reagan tax advisor calls it a very dumb idea. but that's not his only bad idea. harris was the only senator to vote against expanding the child care tax credit and against the state's cancer treatment program. andy harris' extreme ideas will cost us.

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we're back with you at 5:46. get your rain gear out, we're in for a soaker. looks like we'll be dealing with a lot of power outages here today. linda sow is here to tell us why. >> the rain's been coming down steadily now since about midnight, that's about a couple hours. i can tell you, it's soaking the ground. that soaked ground is going to inevitably bring down trees. people are getting ready for flooding, putting out sand bags by the downtown dock. the big concern there comes at high tide, especially as the storm blows in from the east. the state's emergency operations center will be activated this

morning. bge is expecting thousands of outages in the area. they have crews and equipment on stand by. >> we've already got line of sight on out-of-state crews. we're doing everything to prepare, just a matter of mother nature making her presence known and we'll deal with it. >> reporter: bge crews are asking people to be patient. if you want to let them know you're without power, call 877-778-2222. news time is 5:47 right now. 68 degrees. you know it's raining and you know you have to take it easy. wet slick roads can mean disaster when you're driving. let's go to sherrie johnson, she joins us live this morning with the commute. sherrie? >> reporter: good morning, megan. we're out here in towson on york

road. there's not been a break in this rain, it just keeps on coming down. look at the puddles there. it's just amazing. not even a little break here. we're drenched out here. let me tell you, as drivers head out this morning, you definitely want to slow it down and use causation on your commute. give yourself plenty of time, watch your falling distance. also want to watch out for standing water on the roadways which would cause you to hydroplane. here in towson, we're not seeing a whole lot of flooding now. be careful. >> kim has been keeping you up to date on the accidents and road conditions, but on i-83 they've seen cars spinning out and having problems there. they're warning drivers to use caution this morning. also, watch out for the downed trees and power lines to prevent swerving. basically, just be aware of your surroundings this morning. take it easy, slow it down, leave early enough to give yourself plenty of time to get

wherever you're going. reporting live in towson, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. good morning, 5:49. we're taking a look at maryland's most powerful doppler radar, heavy rain around the periphery of the eastern shore. it's dry for the time being. we have ourselves this slug of heavy rainfall. i'll show you in a moment what it's done to edgemere in southeast baltimore county near sparrows point. want to take you to glen burnie, they've had over an inch of rain since midnight. 68 degrees. a lot of spray, reduced visibility on richie highway. 1.31 inches. just a few miles away, if you get underneath one of these heavy rain bands, look what it does. edgemere, southeast baltimore county. we have ourselves over two inches of rainfall. 2.48. this was 2.33 just when i loaded the site up, about three minutes

ago. picking up rainfall at a heavy rate once it pushes through. shifted over towards perhaps harford county, we'll pick off half inch to an inch in an hour's timeframe. we have ourselves a wave of low pressure. the pump up of tropical moisture. you heard the report earlier, wilmington, north carolina, 18 inches of rainfall, south carolina, extending down through the bahamas right now. all this rainfall continues to push its way, with a few waves of low pressure wrapping around this jetstream. core of cold air will wrap around the storm. until then, we have to deal with the storm through central maryland. what it means for us, periods of heavy rain, on average, two to five inches. some spots underneath heavy rain bands. one area of low pressure pushing south from midday. we enhance the rainfall. another wave of low pressure around this evening to our

south. that partial for tornados and spin-ups will be with us as well. we watch the heavy rain try to push to the eastern shore. cutting off our rainfall eventually. cooler dry air spills in for the weekend. we have to watch ourselves, this flood watch and possibility of high tidal surging around portions of the chesapeake bay. just after midnight tonight. and uh, again, around early afternoon tomorrow. these are the two high tides i think we may have running about two to three feet above normal. the possibility not only of flooding or tornados, but that heavy rainfall and winds gusting to 45 miles an hour. we'll settle back into the low 60s overnight. rain should cut off from west to east by daybreak. we're heading for 73, clearing tomorrow, at least by the afternoon, this weekend, look at the cool down. lows 45 to 50 saturday and sunday. let's check out traffic now. here's kim. >> plenty to check out this morning.

we have several crashes around the beltway, i-70, an accident reported on the harrisburg expressway. let's get you updated, wilkins avenue, blocking the two right lanes and both shoulders. ambulance and emergency vehicles on the scene there. these delays are starting to back up to about the i-70 interchange. keep that in mind before you make your way out the door this morning. traffic is probably not going to be good. we're not off to the best start. as we look at our maps, several incidents lingering, we have flooding reported to have patapsco avenue closed at 895. flooding also an issue in middle river, eastern boulevard, martin boulevard closed because of high water. on the top side of the outer loop, as you make your way on the jfx one of the exit ramps are closed because of an accident. i-70 eastbound remains closed at route 29. down trees an issue, brentwood's drive closed. jamie, back to you.

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rutgers student. two students are accused of putting a camera in tyler clemente's room and aired it of him having sex with another man. police are working to get a positive id on a man that may be his body. coaches from both teams went after each other on the sidelines of a peewee football game. home video of the fight has surfaced. one kid tried to get between the two adults to try to get them to stop fighting. all of the coaches involved were disciplined. in the end, the kids were the ones who really suffered. the league has actually banned both teams from postseason play. halloween mannequin is causing controversy amid fruits and vegetables. the most talked about piece is this masked mannequin. some folks say it looks like a

black person hanging from a noose and they find that a bit disturbing. >> that is a very negative sign to the black community. he knows that that to us represents, that's the symbol of lynching and that's a symbol of disrespect to the community. >> some people might think the witch outside with her hands tied is insensitive. >> she says it will come down after halloween. 5:57. stay with us. 6:00 is just a few minutes away. >> weather and traffic, that's all we're doing today. full of dot com businesses. e and now my job is helping maryland create new economy jobs. training new math and science teachers investing in our institutions of excellence pioneering new cyber security jobs

and giving an old gm plant a jump start building electric motors. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message so you'll know i'm fighting for you.

bob ehrlich's real record on energy. lobbyists helped write utility regulations. we got stuck with a 72% rate hike. but martin o'malley got tough on bge, forcing them to pay back $2 billion to consumers. and what's bob ehrlich been doing the past four years? he got paid $2.5 million at a lobbying firm, a firm representing special interests and casinos right here in maryland. that's bob ehrlich-- a 72% increase for us and $2.5 million from special interests for himself. nice work, bob. a bus falls off the capital beltway and hits 270 below. investigators will be in bethesda today trying to find